(HEALTHCAST)— Can your heart truly be physically healthy, if it’s not emotionally healthy?

Psychologists say when they talk about heart health, they don’t talk about cholesterol..or blockages.

They say chronic stress doesn’t just take a toll on our emotions, it changes our chemical makeup.

When we get stressed one psychologist said blood flow is actually steered away from our brains.

“We can’t think clearly anymore our heart rate goes up, our blood pressure goes up, we start to sweat, blood flow pulls into our muscles, our breathing rate becomes more rapid,” Director of Psychology Clinic at Parkinson Place Angelo Domingo said.

Domingo recommends using the little things to calm down and to control stress and anxiety like literally smelling the roses or blowing out candles to stop the stress cycle.